Review Collingwood Dodgy Draft Picks

[DermiesLuvChild]

We have had a few shockers over the years (like most clubs), thankfully our recent drafting/trading has been excellent.
Probably been done before, but I have put together a mock team of draft disasters since the draft commenced (1986).
Have listed - players name - draft pick number - year of draft

B Groves 10 (1989) Hanrahan 22 (1989) Wilson 9 (1992)
HB Cole 11 (2001) Sharkey 22 (1990) Roach 7 (1999)

C Cook 23 (1990) Robertson 21 (1986) Grumley 16 (1989)

HF Tuckey 19 (1996) Nixon 21 (2002) Bayliss 11 (1988)
F Rusling 23 (2004) Morrison 17 (2003) Hamer 14 (1990)

R Chalmers 10 (1991) Egan 10 (2004) Fielke 8 (1986)

Lowest pick is Roach (7) & highest is Rusling/Cook (23).
I didn't include any picks above 23 as the risk of failure increases once over 20. However you do expect first round or early 2nd round picks to have some career/play some reasonable amount of footy.

 

[SchuPie]

I try not to get into looking back as hindsight is so easy but the ones that i wish to mention are: Cole and Roach - they're the ones that hurt us - esp Roach - too many successful players after him.
However, even with Cole, we got Swan much later in the draft so it all evens out

Nixon - i remember seeing his "highlights"package just after we drafted him...he must have been great live as the footage was almost funny; wobbly kicks to turnovers

Rus i don't consider a mistake - he, by extent us, was cruelled by injuries and could have been anything - he was a great "pick"

I love the way we draft now - target a player and pull the trigger

 

[carnthepies19]

Cole makes me the angriest, we could've gotten James Kelly, Nick Dal Santo, Leigh Montagna or even Stevie J with that pick.

 

[rickyp]

Cole makes me the angriest, we could've gotten James Kelly, Nick Dal Santo, Leigh Montagna or even Stevie J with that pick.

What pick did we get from Essendon for him? And who did we use that on? My gut tells me it was Ryan Cook...

 

[SchuPie]

yep - pick 23...Ryan Cook
just after Cole's trade went through I think essendon traded a player (worse than Cole) for pick 19...

 

[regpies]

Rusling wasn't a dodgy pick, he could still be playing now if it wasn't for all his shoulder problems.

I thought Egan showed something but he obviously fell out of favour.

Never liked Cole, wasn't disappointed when he went.

 

[DermiesLuvChild]

I try not to get into looking back as hindsight is so easy but the ones that i wish to mention are: Cole and Roach - they're the ones that hurt us - esp Roach - too many successful players after him.
However, even with Cole, we got Swan much later in the draft so it all evens out

Nixon - i remember seeing his "highlights"package just after we drafted him...he must have been great live as the footage was almost funny; wobbly kicks to turnovers

Rus i don't consider a mistake - he, by extent us, was cruelled by injuries and could have been anything - he was a great "pick"

I love the way we draft now - target a player and pull the trigger

I hummed & harred over Rusling - shud have not included him, he would hv been ok if not for injuries. Could replace him with Brayden Shaw (2nd round f/s selection).
The early picks (1980's & early 90's) were probably more hit & miss, with no draft camp, less interstate & regional recruiters in place, less video footage etc.
The big ones were Roach, Cole & Egan.
The last 5 years have been great.....our ladder position/performance is proof.

 

[Ed D]

I was shaking my head reading those names. We had really poor recruiters before Hine came in. Just goes to show how important it is to have good recruiters and the money to be able to scout the players.

 

[Baltimore Jack]

Chalmers was drafted 1992 I think. Ended up playing 70 or so games with Port

 

[lgarth80]

Chalmers was drafted 1992 I think. Ended up playing 70 or so games with Port

Chalmers was a tough one. Only played 75 games in his career for both Crows and Port, but would have probably found a niche at Collingwood replacing Charlie Manson.

Problem is our recruiting team got Chalmers banned, us fined, then at the end of it all, we gave him anyway back to Adelaide.

 

[vjknight]

in the saints board at present theres a thread discussing their drafting since 2005. one poster then provides comparisons between stkilda, collingwood, geelong & hawthorn over the same period, highlighting players still at their various clubs. it certainly confirms the standing of the pies & cats in recruiting abilities versus the disasters the saints have put themselves thru in recent years.

IMO its a good thread on their board, so maybe dont post in it, turning it into the normal shitfight.

 

[millsy29gopies]

Rusling could have been anything. Cole was very disappointing and Ryan Cook more so (remember the point he kicked against Adelaide in the 2008 final, 15 meters out directly in front?) And pick 7 for Roach....

 

[vjknight]

for the older generation nothing goes past the trading/recruiting disasters of the 70's and 80's, before the draft.

so many names bought to the club on big dollars were total spuds, and even worse the names NOT bought to the club cos we wouldnt shell out the extra dosh to players that would have made the difference.

 

[loki04]

I hummed & harred over Rusling - shud have not included him, he would hv been ok if not for injuries. Could replace him with Brayden Shaw (2nd round f/s selection).
The early picks (1980's & early 90's) were probably more hit & miss, with no draft camp, less interstate & regional recruiters in place, less video footage etc.
The big ones were Roach, Cole & Egan.
The last 5 years have been great.....our ladder position/performance is proof.

MM went from calling Brayden the next Nathan Buckley to de-listing him 12 months later and Brayden when not injured regularly was in the best VFL players.

Always thought he was shafted after the T.Shaw and MM argument over him, we all know MM has a history of favourites and if you fall out with him you don't get back in.

 

[Beary17]

for the older generation nothing goes past the trading/recruiting disasters of the 70's and 80's, before the draft.

so many names bought to the club on big dollars were total spuds, and even worse the names NOT bought to the club cos we wouldnt shell out the extra dosh to players that would have made the difference.

If you find the time it would be interesting to read a bit of a list about these, born in the 80's I havent heard too much about trading back then, I'd be particularly interested in the players we could of got but didn't make the effort. Turning away a young EJ Whitten cos the club thought he was too skinny is an interesting one, that was in a auto biography before he passed.

 

[ipswichpies]

for the older generation nothing goes past the trading/recruiting disasters of the 70's and 80's, before the draft.

so many names bought to the club on big dollars were total spuds, and even worse the names NOT bought to the club cos we wouldnt shell out the extra dosh to players that would have made the difference.

Raines,Teasdale et al about the best one easily was Trav,s old man David who was a good player for the Pies and enabled us to get Travis,Cam and Jason and Travs a beauty for sure.

You are right we sure bought some duds back,Doug Barwick was also a fine player for the Pies and helped break the drought.

 

[MarkT2]

Did we get that Johnathon Ross bloke from Adelaide for Chalmers? He got sacked before he arrived in Melbourne. That has to be some kind of record.

 

[Thommo 42]

MM went from calling Brayden the next Nathan Buckley to de-listing him 12 months later and Brayden when not injured regularly was in the best VFL players.

Always thought he was shafted after the T.Shaw and MM argument over him, we all know MM has a history of favourites and if you fall out with him you don't get back in.

He was never picked up by another club and had a pretty average VFL career, so I don't think it was just MM's fault.

All we did by taking him F/S was save another club a massive blunder with their first round pick, because based on his junior explots he would have gone Top 15

 

[DermiesLuvChild]

Did we get that Johnathon Ross bloke from Adelaide for Chalmers? He got sacked before he arrived in Melbourne. That has to be some kind of record.

Didn't CFC lose our 1992 draft pick 10 Chalmers because we broke the draft rules by paying him (to tell other clubs not to draft him?). Hence he stayed in Adelaide 1993 (assume playing for Port Adelaide Magpies). He was then traded by Collingwood to Adelaide end 1993 for pick 34. We used that pick on Stephen Patterson (96 games Collingwood).
Chalmers was at Adelaide for 4 years, then Port Power for a couple.

 

[Baltimore Jack]

Did we get that Johnathon Ross bloke from Adelaide for Chalmers? He got sacked before he arrived in Melbourne. That has to be some kind of record.

I think we got Ross through a trade when Brett James went back to Adelaide

 

[loki04]

He was never picked up by another club and had a pretty average VFL career, so I don't think it was just MM's fault.

All we did by taking him F/S was save another club a massive blunder with their first round pick, because based on his junior explots he would have gone Top 15

Not many clubs will gamble on a 3rd year player coming off 2 injury riddled years except for the club who drafts them.

Yeah he didn't kick on with it but when he was playing VFL for us he was usually one of our best (including out shining Heater at the time), after the let down who's to say he didn't lose desire/heart and confidence?

Just saying harsh call to say he was a waisted pick/spud given the well known circumstances of his delisting.

 

[DermiesLuvChild]

I think we got Ross through a trade when Brett James went back to Adelaide

Yes in 1996 draft period.

 

[Karate Feel]

You could throw in giving up pick #3 and Clinton King in 1999 for Steven Mckee, considering Pavlich was taken at #4.

But 2001 was a strong draft and to pick Cole # 11, Tom Davidson # 27 was disastrous.

Any pick inside 10 should be a half decent player so Egan and Roach were lost opportunities.

You could even argue we gave up pick 16 for Cam Wood who has yet to become more than a second stringer.

 

[DermiesLuvChild]

You could throw in giving up pick #3 and Clinton King in 1999 for Steven Mckee, considering Pavlich was taken at #4.

But 2001 was a strong draft and to pick Cole # 11, Tom Davidson # 27 was disastrous.

Any pick inside 10 should be a half decent player so Egan and Roach were lost opportunities.

You could even argue we gave up pick 16 for Cam Wood who has yet to become more than a second stringer.

Both clubs screwed the pooch on that one.
We traded pick 3 & King for McKee & pick 7.
Richmond used pick 3 on Aaron Fiora & we used pick 7 on Roach !!!

Cam Wood was pick 14 actually, hopefully Wood can still prove/save this one for us?

 

[wednesdaywarrior]

If you're talking about missed opportunities - as well as just crap drafting, I once read that we had some sort of play on Bernie Quinlan in the '70's. Not sure how close we were to getting him across but I think we didn't push hard enough. Quinlan was a superstar tall forward who could turn games. Considering that there was a bees phallus in the GF in '77 and '79 you could argue that this non-trade cost us two flags including one against the filth that would have made my life so much less painful.

Still, to be positive, looking at all those names drafted in the 80's and 90's makes me realise how far we've come. It's great going into drafts feeling confident of the decision your club makes. It gives you hope.